Green Corner: Summer 2013

For the fifth year of its luxury Eco-Chic Collaboration, Newton Vineyard tapped San Francisco-based designer Derek Chen to take inspiration from Newton’s vineyards and sustainable reputation. Chen created the Pino Solo Wine Tree, a 54″ tall storage rack whose eight hand-bent brushed-metal rods form a repeated hexagonal motif that creates natural nooks for up to 12 wine bottles. He repurposed used oak wine barrels for the bases. Each piece in the limited edition of 100 is numbered and signed. The series is being sold in retail stores in New York, San Francisco and Chicago as well as through newtonvineyard.com for $299.

TRINITY OAKS NOW BOTTLES WITH PLANT-FRIENDLY CAPSULES

Trinity Oaks has announced a new initiative using compostable capsules. The new plant-based capsules are made from a carbon-neutral biopolymer developed in partnership with Plastic Suppliers, Inc. and Maverick Enterprises. Less energy is used to make these capsules and they are made in a greenhouse-neutral facility that uses wind, solar power and other energy offsets. The aluminum top disk on the bottle is recyclable, while the EarthFirst PLA film material used for the capsule is certified compostable.

Trinity Oaks, part of Trinchero Family Estates, also continues its One Bottle, One Tree program, which began in summer 2008 and funds a new tree for planting with every Trinity Oaks bottle purchase. By Earth Day 2013, Trinity Oaks celebrated helping plant more than 7 million trees. Trinity Oaks wines are priced at $8 a bottle.

Michele Manelli, winemaker at the Montepulciano winery Salcheto, had a goal for years to reduce energy consumption yet still produce great wines. He was recently in New York to discuss sustainability and to present the first Salcheto wine to be made “from grapes only,” the 2012 Obvius Rosso di Montepulciano DOC (to be released this fall). In 2011, Manelli finished the first Italian winery to be totally “off-grid,” or separate from any traditional power distribution networks. This has enabled Salcheto to be 54% more energy-efficient than conventional wineries of the same size and to better measure and decrease its environmental impact. The cellar is lit with 100% natural light, and all heating and cooling energy is created on premise. Salcheto’s wines are available nationally through Massanois Imports. For a slideshow of features of the off-grid facility, visit salcheto.it/project.php.

CONCHA Y TORO MAKES CARBON STATEMENT

Earth Day provided an opportunity for Chile’s Viña Concha y Toro to call attention to the relationship between trees and CO2 with a vineyard installation. A one-ton green sphere was positioned in Concha y Toro’s Peumo estate vineyard (named for a native Chilean tree) to represent the volume of CO2 that one tree captures over its lifetime. In addition to stewardship of the vines, Concha y Toro has worked with Chile’s Native Forest Conservation Program (CONAF) to create an inventory of native species of trees to better work toward preservation. The winery is working to conserve over 8,000 acres of native forest; trees help diversify soils and mitigate climate change.